


Meadows Island

by black_rose (mango_tea)



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Family, Father Figures, Fluff, Love, Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-01-30 00:29:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12642411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mango_tea/pseuds/black_rose
Summary: Leah Dawson has been through many ups and downs in her short 15 years of life. She’s been forced to bounce from home to home following the death of her parents. Follow Leah on a new chapter in her life as she learns to overcome and adapt to her new life in Meadows Island.





	1. Chapter 1

Just when the caterpillar thought the world was ending, it transformed into a beautiful butterfly.

I sat on my sheetless twin sized mattress, in my nearly empty bedroom, staring at the words of my favorite quote. The words covered about a quarter of one of my bedroom walls.

I stared at the words thinking about the drastic changes I’d been forced to adapt to in my, seemingly, long fifteen years of life. 

The first drastic change happened after my parents’ deadly car accident. They were driving home from a night out in town, when a drunk driver rammed into their car and drove them off of a bridge and into a lake. I was only nine years old when it happened. I was sent to live with my Aunt Claire after that.

I remember crying myself to sleep for about a year after the accident happened. It took three years of counseling for me to be able to feel somewhat normal again.

The next drastic change in my life happened when my Aunt Claire and Uncle Ben decided to pack up their lives and move from California to Arizona. My Aunt Claire was one of my mother’s two sisters. She was a stay at home mom to my cousin Mildred who was five years younger than me. It was with them that I had learned to love life again, but when they spoke of the move, I couldn’t help but to decline their offer for me to join them. I had made too many memories and friends where we lived and I did not want to leave any of it behind. 

Lucky for me, my Aunt Carol, my mother’s other sister, lived only twenty minutes away from my Aunt Claire’s old home. This was the next drastic change in my life. My Aunt Carol was a single, 42 year old workaholic with no children. While life with her was comfortable, it was a bit lonely. I would always try to keep myself busy with homework and after school sports in order to ignore the extreme lack of quality time that I got to spend with her. I really couldn’t blame her for the lack of attention she gave me; she was in love with her job and didn’t really have a choice when she decided to take me in.

Now, here I am, trying to mentally prepare myself for another drastic change in my life. My Aunt Carol had just accepted a job offer in Tokyo. It was goodbye California and hello Washington for me. My father’s only sibling, Uncle Ezra, had agreed to take me in this time. Since both my Aunt Claire and Uncle Ben worked full-time now, neither of them thought it was a good idea for me to live with them. 

My Uncle Ezra lived on a small Island in Washington called Meadows Island. He lived with his two son’s, Eli, 22 and Ryan, 24. His wife, my Aunt Ley, had passed away after giving birth to my cousin Eli. My Uncle never remarried after that.

I didn’t know too much about my Uncle since he never got around to visiting California much, but I did know that he was a very rich man. He owned a well known construction company on the island and was doing very good for himself.

"Leah.” I looked up after hearing my Aunt Carol’s voice calling my name. She was standing at the entrance of my bedroom, hands on her hips. “Get up and help me finish packing, will you?" She asked in a frustrated tone as she stared at me with her furrowed brows . 

I let out a loud sigh before nodding my head and lazily sliding off my bed. We had been packing just about all day, getting ready for our separate moves. I was scheduled to fly out tomorrow morning and she would be leaving tomorrow evening.

She looked up at me with her tired dark blue eyes, noticeable wrinkles surrounding them.

"Finish packing up your closet and I'll take care of the rest of this." she pointed at the remaining objects in my room. I nodded my head and made my way downstairs to grab an empty box to put my clothes in.

As I packed the rest of my belongings into the moving boxes, I thought about what life would be like in Washington. 


	2. Chapter 2

I stared out through the passenger side window of my Uncle's truck as he drove us through Meadows Island. I couldn't help but notice how oddly perfect all of the houses on the island looked. They were all enormous homes with perfect lawns. It kind of gave off a strange, uptight vibe that I didn't find welcoming in the slightest sense.

"You eat already?" My Uncle asked, breaking the eerie silence that surrounded the cab of his truck. His voice sounded low and husky. I felt his dark green eyes look at me for a brief second before he returned them back to the road.

I shrugged my shoulders sluggishly. "I'm not hungry." I mumbled.

I hadn't seen my Uncle since my mother and father's funeral, six years ago. He had been 34 at the time. He hadn't seemed to age much from when I'd last seen him. He still looked to be the same enormously tall, athletic, tan skinned man I remembered him to be. The only difference was that he had grown his hair out just past his shoulders and had a neatly kept beard; it suited him well.

"You start school tomorrow." He spoke after breathing out a deep sigh. "You'll need to unpack your belongings tonight and get to bed at a decent time. Ryan will be dropping you off at school in the morning."

"Ok." I nodded my head, continuing to stare out through the window.

Silence, once again, consumed the confines of his truck.

I sat there, now staring at the hundreds of trees that surrounded us as he drove us to his home. I thought about how difficult it felt to get used to the idea that I would now be living with my Uncle Ezra and my cousins. I guess it felt kind of weird to think that I would be living with people I didn’t know too well; even if they were my family.

Finally, after 15 minutes of complete silence, we arrived at my Uncle's house.

He pulled into the empty driveway and jumped out of the truck. I sat in his truck for a few moments, examining the huge house that I'd be forced to call home for the next few years. The exterior was covered in a combination of brick and stone and the front lawn was as flawlessly green as the other lawns in the neighborhood.

I let out a deep sigh before turning to open the passenger side door of the truck.

As I stepped out of the truck, I felt the brisk wind hit my cheeks. I drew in a deep breath, inhaling the fresh pine scent of the island.

I could hear my Uncle grunting as he grabbed my heavy luggage bags from the bed of his truck. I followed closely behind him as he made his way up to the front door of the house.

"You can hang your coat there." He offered, pointing at the coat rack that stood just past the entrance of the house. 

I felt the warmth of the house surround me as I stepped inside. From just the entrance I could sense the cleanliness and neatness of the home. I found that a little strange since only men lived here. I giggled at that thought as I slid my coat off and hung it on the rack.

After giving me a quick tour of the house, my Uncle dropped my bags off in my new bedroom. He had instructed me to be at the dining table by 7 so that we could all eat dinner together. He mentioned that it didn't happen too often due to everyones conflicting schedules, but that at least tonight it would.

From what I remembered, my Uncle had never been a man of many words. The very few times that he did come visit us, he'd probably spoken to me a total of 10 times. Besides the fact that he was a huge man, he always had this angry look on his face. So, naturally, I had always been afraid to speak to him. Sooner or later I learned that that was just his personality. He was a serious, reserved man, which I honestly didn't seem to mind at all at this point.

That night we ended up having Lasagna for dinner. It was a pretty uneventful dinner, minus the small reunion with my cousins. I felt out a little out of place, but knew that the feeling would pass soon enough..


	3. Chapter 3

Today was my first day of school at Meadows High School. I could feel the nerves creeping up inside me as I walked down the school halls in search of the Student Counseling Center.

The school looked to be a good three times smaller than my old high school, but definitely looked a lot nicer. The building walls were all made up of pretty dark grey and red colored bricks. I could see fancy chandelier's hanging from inside of the cafeteria’s celing as I walked passed it. Small, wooden round tables sat on the cafeteria floors with comfy looking booths surrounding them. I quickly began realizing that this was definitely a rich kid school. 

After a good 7 minutes of walking aimlessly down the giant halls, I came across a small brick building with big, block letters on it that read 'STUDENT COUNSELING CENTER'. I stared at the door for a brief second before taking a deep breath and stepping inside.

"Good morning!" A short, thin blonde girl standing at the front desk, greeted cheerfully as I walked through the door.

"Morning." I smiled. "I'm here to pick up my class schedule."

The girl smiled at me. "Oh, you must be Leah Dawson." She said, turning to grab a sheet off of the organized desk behind her.

"That's me." I nodded my head.

"I'm Allie Gates, a sophomore here." she smiled, reaching out to shake my hand.

"Nice to meet you." I smiled as I shook her hand.

"I'm supposed to give you a tour of the school before class starts." She said, turning to grab her coat off the coat rack next to her.

"Oh, thanks." I let out a small smile. I was relieved that I wouldn't have to walk down the school halls alone, looking lost again. I waited for her to grab her stuff before we stepped outside.

As soon as we stepped outside, I felt a strong gust of wind hit my face. I pulled my coat tightly against my skin and shivered.

Allie looked at me, a light laugh escaping her lips. "It gets pretty windy and cold out here." She said, seeming completely unfazed by the cold temperature outside.

I nodded my head, releasing the tight grip on my coat as we started walking down the school halls.

"Alrighty," She stopped in front of a door labeled ‘RM 120’. "This is where your first class is." She pointed at the door. "All of the English classes are along this building" she explained, pointing out the rest of the classrooms along the building we stood in front of. I nodded my head 'ok'.

About a good fifteen minutes later, we found ourselves at the Student Counseling Center once again. I sighed a sigh of relief as we entered the warm building. Never had I been introduced to this type of cold before.

"So, that was it." She shrugged off her coat as she walked back behind the front desk.

"Pretty small compared to my old high school." I commented, just as the first period bell rang, signaling everyone to get to class.

"Yeah, not too big of a fuss." She spoke as she grabbed a small stack of white slips and began writing on the top one. "You can wait here until the halls clear up. I'll write you up a late slip” She smiled, continuing to write.

"Actually, I'd rather head to class with everyone else. It's bad enough that I'm the new girl.. don't want to draw too much attention to myself." I let out a light laugh.

"Alright, girl!" Allie shrugged her shoulders, letting out a small smile.

"Thank you for everything." I smiled. She nodded her head and wished me good luck on my first day.

\------

It was finally nearing the end of the school day. My first five classes, English, Geometry, Spanish, Dance, and Health had flown by. I ended up making a couple of new friends who invited me to sit with them at lunch. They spent the entire lunch break catching me up on the latest school drama, which honestly, I could care less about. But- I wasn't going to let them know that, of course. I just really wanted to fit in."

Alas, I was finally, headed to my sixth period class, I would get to be the Nurses aide for all of the next hour.

I quickly arrived at the old wooden trailer where the school Nurse, Mrs. May, worked. Apparently her old office was currently under construction.

"Hello." I greeted Mrs. May as I entered her office. She was a small, old, Asian lady with thin black hair.

"Oh, good afternoon, sweetie!" She greeted me from behind her desk. She was typing something into her computer.

"You must be Leah." She smiled, looking up at me and reaching out to shake my hand. I nodded my head and shook her hand.

She gave me a quick run down of what a typical day as the nurses aide was usually like before mentioning that she was just waiting on her other aide to show up so that we could get started on filing some paperwork for her.

I stood there waiting for about half a minute before the most gorgeous boy I'd ever laid eyes on rushed into the office. He stood at about 6 ft, bearing reddish, brown skin, and gorgeous dark green eyes. His black hair was styled in a combover hairstyle.

I barely heard the bell ring as he walked in. I tried my hardest not to stare at him.

"Glad to see you could make it on time today, Sam." Mrs. May spoke as 'Sam' pulled his black hoodie off over his head, revealing a gray t-shirt that showed off his muscular arms.

"Only for you Mrs. May." He gave her a wink and a grin that showed his flawless, bright white teeth.

"Mhm." She rolled her eyes at him. "Sam, this is Leah, our new student aide." Mrs. May signaled a hand towards me, causing Sam to turn around and look at me.

I could feel my cheeks flush a bright red color as he looked at me, his perfect grin playing on his lips. He stuck his hand out for me to shake. I felt the calloused skin on his palm as I shook his hand.

"Hi." I spoke shyly as he released his grip from our handshake.

After our little introduction, Mrs. May sent us both to the back room behind her office so that we could file the paperwork she'd mentioned earlier.

"So, you're the new girl." Sam spoke as he opened the filing cabinet next to him. "Ryan and Eli’s cousin, right?" He asked.

"Um, y-yeah." I mentally grimaced at the sound of my slight stutter. "How do you know them?" I asked curiously.

"Small town.." he shrugged his shoulders, placing a sheet of paper in the filing cabinet.

"Right.." I pursed my lips together. "So, are you a sophomore, too?" I asked, nervously flipping through a stack of paperwork that sat on the desk in front of me. I wasn't the best at talking to people I didn't know, especially not attractive guys..

"I'm actually a Junior." He answered.

We made some more small talk while we worked before Mrs. May called Sam over to work on something else for her.

Sixth period ended up flying by. I had been hoping that Sam would get to come back and continue working with me, but he didn't. In fact, he'd left about 5 minutes early to change over for soccer practice.

As soon as the final bell rang, I made way to the front of the school where Ryan had agreed to pick me up. He had already been waiting for me by the time I'd reached the area.

“So, how was your first day?” Ryan asked after I climbed inside his truck and put my seatbelt on.

”It was actually pretty good.” I smiled as he drove off of the school campus and towards my Uncle Ezra’s house.

”Glad to hear.” He smiled before turning up the volume on the radio and singing along to the song playing.

I let out a small laugh.

All in all, this place didn't seem too bad. I still wouldn't say that I was happy about moving here, but I could now say that I didn't completely hate the fact that I did.


	4. Chapter 4

*Drip* I shivered at the touch of the cold rainwater rolling down my left cheek. I raised my chin up to the sky and noticed the huge gray clouds rolling in just above my head.

“Perfect..” I sighed. I quickly bent down to pick up the water bottle that I had placed on the ground just minutes before the rainy skies interrupted my stretching, and headed back into my Uncle’s house.

My plan to go on a light jog before school this morning had been officially shut down. I was in desperate need of a therapeutic jog; something that would help me clear my head a little bit. Unfortunately a run wouldn’t be the solution for that this morning.

“Back so fast?” Ryan asked from the kitchen.

I stripped off my windbreaker and hung it on the coat rack before making my way into the kitchen with Ryan.

“Didn’t realize it was going to be a rainy morning.” I sighed.

Ryan chuckled. “Can’t remember the last dry morning we had around here. Thought you’d be used to it by now.”

“Guess I should be…” I shrugged, pulling out a bag of bagels from the refrigerator and popping two halves into the toaster.

I'd been living on the Island for a little over four months now. I had become really good friends with Allie, the girl from the counseling center, and Khloe, a girl from my Spanish class. Fortunately, my small crush on Sam Harding had disappeared. It turned out that every other girl at my school was interested in him, but he never seemed to pay attention to any of them due to him dating some College Freshman. Other than that, I had been doing great at school, maintaining straight A's and playing on the girl's soccer team, which both Allie and Khloe were also a part of. 

“How are you feeling this morning?” Ryan asked, a sympathetic look showing on his face.

My parent’s death anniversary had been yesterday and I'd spent the entire day sulking in my bedroom.

“Better..” I faked a half smile.

Ryan stared at me for a second and returned a half smile before nodding his head and continuing to eat his oatmeal.

Just then, Eli strolled into the kitchen.

“Morning, Kid!” He greeted cheerfully, roughing up my hair as he walked past me.

“Why do you always do that??” I complained, taking my hair out of the once neat ponytail I had it in and redoing it.

“Because I enjoy annoying you.” He replied nonchalantly with a shrug.

I rolled my eyes at him, grabbing my toasted Bagel halves. I made my towards the kitchen table and sat across from Ryan.

“You taking her to school today?” Eli asked Ryan, with a mouth full of trail mix.

“I thought you were?” Ryan frowned. “I have some stuff that I need to take care of here in a bit.” He said, looking at his watch.

I was in no mood to go to school today. It was Monday and I wasn’t feeling too confident about a History Quiz I had today.

“Well, I don’t really HAVE to go to school today.” I suggested.

“You’re going.” Ryan said, not even taking a moment to think about my suggestion.

“Ugh!” I growled.

“Can you be ready in like 35 minutes?” Eli asked looking over at me. “I ALSO have some stuff to take care of.” He looked over at Ryan and glared.

Ryan chuckled. “Don’t give me that look. It’s your turn, bro.”

“Sure.” I mumbled, answering Eli’s request. I took a bite from my bagel before setting it down on my plate and making my way upstairs to shower.

I came back downstairs, ready to go, about forty minutes later.

“You ready, Kid??” Eli asked impatiently.

“Yeah, sorry, had to blow dry my hair.” I apologized.

“Here.” Eli said handing me my bagel. He had wrapped it in saran wrap for me.

“Oh, thanks!” I took the bagel from him and walked over to the kitchen to grab a water bottle from the refrigerator before heading outside to meet him at his truck. He owned a black, four door, Chevy Silverado.

We arrived at my school about 15 minutes later. I thanked Eli for the ride before getting out of his truck and heading to the Library so that I could study for my History Quiz. It was only 6:45am and 1st period didn’t’ start until 7:30am.

\---

I was pretty deep into my studying when I heard a familiar voice call me by my nickname from behind me.

"Leal's!" It was Khloe.

"Shhh.." the librarian turned to look at us, holding a finger up to her lips.

"Sorry." Khloe whispered to her before turning to look at me. "Guess who just got invited to Sam Harding's bonfire next Friday??" She whispered excitedly.

"You got an invite?!" I gasped.

Khloe nodded her head in excitement. "But don't be jelly." She teased. "Sam handed me a flyer this morning after telling me that both you and Allie were also invited." 

A huge grin suddenly appeared on my face. "I thought it was going to be exclusive to Juniors and Seniors?"

"That WAS the word on the street, but I guess your girl's just THAT cool.." she smirked.

I rolled my eyes at her, letting out a light laugh.

"You tell Allie yet?" I asked, closing my history book. I was way too excited to study now.

"Not yet." She she shook her head.

"Well, let's go find her!" I said excitedly.

"Shhhhhhhhh.." The librarian turned to look at us once again.

Khloe and I looked at each other, quiet giggles escaping our lips. We apologized to the librarian before heading outside to find Allie.


	5. Chapter 5

I stepped into the kitchen and paused for a second to take in the warm, aromatic scent of the freshly baked pizza that sat neatly plated on the dinner table. 

"Ah, smells so delicious." I sighed. "Where have you been these past four months??" I joked, taking my seat at the table. 

Ryan’s girlfriend of 2 years had just returned from Arizona, where she was studying to become a registered nurse. She was off of school for summer vacation and was planning on spending it here with Ryan. She had just arrived earlier this morning and was already offering to cook dinner for us tonight. I couldn't be more grateful for her offer. I was getting really tired of eating take out and easy to make pasta's.

"Oh, thanks." Lily smiled. "I'll teach you how to make a recipe or two while I'm here." She offered.

"That would be great." I smiled.

”Mmm, smells amazing, babe.” Ryan said, walking into the kitchen towards Lily and giving her a hug from behind as she worked on buttering the garlic bread.

”Is this why keep me around?” Lily joked.

”For this and one other thing..” Ryan said, playfully kissing her neck as she laughed.

”Ugh, Get a room!” Eli joked as he walked into the kitchen, Uncle Ezra following behind him.

”Seriously..” I grimaced. 

After 10 minutes of joking and waiting around for Lily to add her finishing touch on the food, Uncle Ezra prayed for our food and we began eating.

"Uncle Ezra?" I asked after swallowing a delicious bite of pepperoni pizza. 

"What's up, Kid?" He looked over at me with curious eyes.

It had been about a week and a half since the girls and I had found out about Sam's bonfire and I had yet to ask for permission to go. I was kind of scared he would say no, since my weekend curfew had been set to 9pm and I was going to ask to stay out a bit later than that.

"A bunch of kids from school are going to this bonfire on Friday night. Allie, Khloe, and I got invited to it. I was wondering if I could go?" I asked.

He stood up from the dinner table and walked over to the refrigerator, pulling out a beer. "How long are you planning on being out?" He asked, taking a bottle opener out of one of the kitchen drawers and popping the cap off of his beer bottle.

"Well, it starts at 7.." I picked up the glass of water that sat next to my dinner plate. "I was hoping to be out until around 10 or so..?" I took a nervous sip from the glass.

"Hm.." He took a swig from his beer bottle before returning to the dinner table and setting it down next to his plate. "Sounds a little late.." He said. 

"Who's all gonna be there anyway?" Ryan asked from the seat next to mine.

I looked over at him, mentally rolling my eyes. "Just some kids from school." I answered very matter-of-factly. I was already starting to feel defeated on this matter.

"Khloe, Allie, Jessica.." I started naming off only girls names, trying to prevent a flat out 'no' from coming out of my Uncle's mouth.

"All girls?" Eli smirked, realizing what I was doing. 

I rolled my eyes. "Some guys from my school will be there too.."

"Well.." my Uncle breathed out a heavy sigh. "Since you did so well in school this semester.." he started saying. 

I looked up at him, my eyes beaming with delight.

"I’ll let you go." He finished.

A huge smile appeared on my face. "Thank youuu!" I shrieked.

He nodded his head slowly, eyebrows raised, amusement played in his eyes. "Just don't do anything stupid." He said in a blunt tone, his expression changing to a serious one.

I was all too used to his bluntness and serious expressions by now that it didn't bother me one bit. I was just happy to hear this turn out in my favor.

\-----

"So, who's the boy?" Lily teased. Her and I had both stayed back to clean up after dinner as the guys watched TV in the family room.

"Boy?" I questioned. "What do you mean?" I asked, a dumfounded expression plastered across my face.

"You seemed pretty excited to go to this bonfire on Friday night. I just thought a boy had something to do with it." She shrugged, placing a freshly washed glass onto the dish drying rack. 

The thought of getting to hang out with Sam quickly jumped into my head. I'd previously thought that my crush on him had disappeared.. but for some reason, I felt that seeing him at the bonfire was the only reason why I was actually excited to go.

"I guess there is a boy.." I frowned. I felt really comfortable talking to Lily. Maybe it was due to the lack of feminine presence I’d missed out on these past four months living in my new home.

"What's his name?" Her eyes lit up. 

"Sam." I blushed. I felt my heart skip a beat at the sound of his name escaping my lips. Why was I feeling this way about him again?

"Wait.. is it Sam Harding?" She let out a light laugh. I nodded my head, confusion filling my eyes. "I used to babysit him when I was in High School. His brother is a close friend of Ryan’s." She mentioned.

"Huh” I chuckled. “Small world..” 

”Even smaller town.” Lily chimed in. 

”Very” I laughed. 


	6. Chapter 6

‘We’ll be there in 10 min.’ I looked at my phone as the screen flashed with a text from Allie. 

Both Allie and and Khloé were coming over to my house to get ready. My Uncle Ezra had agreed to drop us off at the bonfire tonight. 

I hopped in the shower to shave my legs and to rinse off my body. I had already washed my hair earlier today before school and didn’t want to ruin my beach curls by washing it again. 

By the time I got out of the shower, both Khloé and Allie were in my bedroom trying to connect one of their phones to my speaker so that they could get some music playing.

They both rushed over to greet me as I stepped into my bedroom from the hallway. It was already 6:30pm and we were only just now beginning to get ready. We figured we would show up a little later than the start time in order to avoid being the first ones there.

“Leah, I’m so mad at you.” Khloé said after closing the door to my bedroom.

”What? Why?” I asked, not sure if she was joking or not. 

She rolled her eyes at me. “Why didn’t you tell me how hot your Uncle AND your cousins were?!” She whined. “Look at me.” She grabbed at a chunk of her hair and pointed at her current outfit. She was wearing some baggy sweatpants and a plain t-shirt. 

I stared and her and began laughing. “First off.” I held up my pointer finger. “Gross.” 

Allie let out a chuckle before looking over at me and chiming in. “Khloé’s right, you know! Could have given a girl some type of warning.” 

”Gross, my Uncle’s like 40 and my cousins are super annoying.” I grimaced.

”Ugh! I envy you.” Khloé said with a playful glare.

”Anyways..” I rolled my eyes. “What are you guys wearing? Cause I don’t know what to wear.” I said walking over to my closet. 

We gossiped about the latest school rumors as we got ready for the bonfire. Apparently there was a rumor going around that Sam had broken up with his girlfriend.

Finally after an hour of getting ready, we were all set to leave. It wasn’t as cold as usual today, so I opted for wearing short denim shorts, a gray halter top, and my blue oversized flannel along with my favorite rainbow sandals.

“Wait here. I’ll go get my Uncle real quick.” I told the girls as soon as we’d made our way downstairs.

I made my way to the family room where I knew my Uncle would be watching TV. It was his favorite spot in the house. If he wasn’t there, he was in the kitchen eating.

”Uncle E,” I called out to my Uncle from the entrance of the family room. “We’re ready.”

He stood up from the couch, turned the TV off and turned to look at me. He examined my outfit and raised his eyebrows. “Am I gonna have to worry about you catching Hypothermia while you’re out at the beach tonight?” He joked.

I looked down at my outfit and frowned. “I’m planning on sitting right by the fire, so I should be fine.” I shrugged.

He chuckled and shook his head. “You girls can meet me outside. I’m just grabbing my keys and a hoodie real quick.”

I nodded my head and made my way towards the stairs, where Khloé and Allie waited. I told them that my Uncle was just grabbing his keys as we headed out towards his truck.

It didn’t take long for my Uncle Ezra to meet us outside. He unlocked the door to his truck and we all climbed inside it. 

”You girls cold?” My uncle asked, offering to turn the heater on for us.

“Ugh! Yes.” Khloé said, shivering. “I don’t know how you’re gonna make it out there in this cold tonight, girl!” She joked, looking over at me.

Both Allie and Khloé had opted to wear jeans and long sleeve tops.

My Uncle shook his head before letting out a small chuckle. “You seem to forget you’re not in California anymore, Sweetheart.” 

I rolled my eyes at his comment before asking if I could turn the radio on.

——-

We made it to the beach after about a 20 minute drive. After doing a 50 second survey of the bonfire, my Uncle agreed to take off and said he’d be back to pick us up at 10 like I had requested.

”Don’t do anything stupid.” He reminded me in his husky voice before taking off. It sounded more like a warning than anything when he’d said it this time around.

“Alright, let’s go Chicas!” Khloé said, grabbing both mine and Allie’s hands and pulling us towards the fire pit surrounded by Sam’s guests.

”Damn, Mami!” Paulina, one of my friends from Spanish class, exclaimed as we neared the pit. 

“Aren’t you cold?” She asked looking in my direction.

I nodded my head, mentally cursing myself for not taking Allie and Khloé’s suggestion of wearing jeans and a long sleeve shirt like them.

”She’s hard headed!” Allie rolled her eyes before pulling out a pair of sweatpants from her purse and handing them to me. 

”Thank you!” I shrieked in excitement as I took the sweatpants from her.

“Your Uncle made me bring them for you! I couldn’t say no to his beautiful, manly face.” She gushed.

I rolled my eyes as I kicked off my sandals and slipped the baggy sweatpants on over my shorts.

”Ooh, tell me more about this beautiful manly man!” Paulina joked 

”On that note, I’m gonna go look for drinks.” I had no intentions on listening to them gush over my Uncle once again.

I left the girls and headed towards an ice chest that was located on the opposite side of where my friends stood. As I reached the ice chest, I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turned to see it was Sam who’d tapped me.

”You made it.” Sam said with a smirk on his face.

”I did.” I smiled. “Thanks for the invitation.” I hadn’t seen Sam in sixth period for the past week due to some type of soccer tournament he’d been playing in. It actually felt really nice to see him again.

”Beer?” He offered as he bent over and popped the ice chest open.

I quickly shook my head no, surprised at the offer. “My Uncle would probably murder me if he heard I was drinking.” I laughed nervously.

“There’s other stuff in here.” Sam shrugged.

”I’ll just grab some water for me and the girls.” I said, reaching down to grab a couple of bottled waters.

“I’ll help you take them over there.” Sam said, taking all but one bottle from me. 

”So, how’s the tournament going?” I asked Sam as we headed over to where my friends stood. “I heard you guys have been doing pretty good.” I said.

”Yeah.” Sam nodded his head. “We’ve won every game so far.” He said.

”Oh, wow.. Congratulations!” I smiled excitedly at him.

”Our final game is tomorrow. You should come..” he said as we reached my group of friends. 

”Sammy!” Paulina cheered as she gave him a hug. “Where have you been?” Paulina and Sam were both cousins.

”Taking care of some stuff.” He said as he handed Allie and Khloé each a water bottle. They both thanked him. 

”Mmm.. she’s still bugging you?” Paulina asked, rolling her eyes.

He nooded his head. “Yeah, but she shouldn’t be calling again after our last conversation.” He shrugged.

”Let me know if you need me to take care of her, Sammy!” Paulina joked. 

Sam rolled his eyes before letting out a chuckle. “I’ll let you know.”

Sam hung out with us for about 10 minutes before taking off to mingle with some of his other friends. There turned out to be a big group of people who came to the bonfire. It looked like half of the school had attended.

”Now that he’s gone..” Allie started saying. “Were you all talking about his ex girlfriend right now? The girl who keeps calling?” Allie asked, her expression showing eagerness to know the answer to her question. 

Paulina laughed. “Ugh! Yes.” She stated. “This girl cheats on him and then expects him to be forgiving towards her..” she said, disbelief playing in her voice. 

”Oh my goodness..” Allie and Khloé both gasped in unison.

“But he’s so hot... ” Khloé states, confusion displayed across her face.

”Some girls just can’t help but to be whores.” Paulina shrugged. 

”Poor Sam..” I sighed as I opened my bottled water and took a sip. 

My Uncle ended up picking us up a little after 10. Apparently the girls and I had left just before it started getting crazy, which I was happy about. Sam didn’t end up coming back to hang out with us, like I had hoped, but even then, I still had a really good time. 


	7. Chapter 7

“Mmm..” I rolled over in my bed as I winced in pain. “What is wrong with me?” I whined as I pressed down on my lower abdomen.

After the wave of pain passed, I reached over to grab my phone from my night stand. I clicked the side button that displayed the time on my phone. It read: ‘3:45am’.

“Ugh!” I moaned. It was Monday morning and I was not in the mood to endure any more displeasing issues than those that already came with the start of the school week. 

I rolled out of bed and made my way to the bathroom located across the hall from my bedroom. As I was finishing up, I realized that I had just started my period.

“Great..” I muttered underneath my breath. 

I searched the medicine cabinet for a maxi pad only to realize that I had two left. 

“Shit..” I cursed. 

I finished my business in the bathroom hoping that Lily had some she could spare. I would have to ask her at breakfast.

I headed back to my room to try to get some sleep before I had to get ready for school. 

——-

“Beep, beep, beep,..” I slammed my hand down on my night stand in search of my phone. 

“Beep, be-“ I found my phone and quickly clicked the stop button. 

“Today is gonna be a bad day.” I said, throwing the covers off of myself.

I headed to my closet to pick out my clothes for the day. I decided on wearing some black skinny jeans, a black long sleeve shirt, and my warm green and black checkered flannel. 

“Ugh!” I groaned as the familiar pain from last night returned. This time it wasn’t as strong, just the regular nagging cramping pain I usually got. 

I headed to the bathroom with my clothes in hand and jumped in the shower. 

After showering, I got dressed, brushed my teeth and blow dried my hair. I pulled my hair up into a messy bun before heading back to my room. Once in my room, I grabbed a pair of warm black socks and my pair of black high top converse and slipped them on. 

Once I was all done, I headed down to the kitchen. 

“Morning, Sunshine!” Lily greeted happily from the kitchen table as I walked in.

“Morning.” I grunted.

“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning..” Ryan joked. He was sitting at the table next to Lily, eating a bowl of oatmeal.

I rolled my eyes at his comment as I headed towards the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water.

“You ok?” Lily asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

“I’m fine.” I said, leaning up against the refrigerator. “Just having a bad morning.” I sighed.

“Well, i’m here if you need to talk.” Lily looked up at me with a sympathetic smile.

“Actually, I wanted to ask you something.” I said, remembering that I was out of pads.

“Morning.” My Uncle Ezra greeted in his usual blunt tone as he walked into the kitchen.

“What is it?” Lily asked, curiousity playing in her eyes.

“Good morning, fam!” Eli exclaimed, roughing up my hair as he walked passed me.

“Ugh! What is your deal?!” I yelled angrily as I forcefully pulled my hair out of my once, decent enough, messy bun.

Silence consumed the room as everyone stared at me with surprised and confused expressions. It was normal for Eli to talk past me and mess my hair up.

“Come on,” Lily broke the silence. “We can talk in your room.” 

Lily started walking towards my bedroom as I followed close behind her.

“Alright.” She said as I sat on the bed and she closed the door behind her. “What’s going on?”

“I’m honestly just having a really bad morning..” I started saying. Lily came and sat next to me on the bed. “I woke up ‘cause I had really bad cramps at 4 in the morning, I started my period, I just ran out of pads, and to top it off, it’s Monday morning..” I burried my face in my hands out of frustration. “I just don’t really don’t feel like doing anything today..” I said, letting a heave sigh out.

“Oh, Leah..” Lily sighed, rubbbing my upper back. “You’re honestly just PMS’ing right now..” she laughed lightly as I blushed. “It sucks you don’t have a mother figure to talk to about this, but at least you have me for the next few weeks.” She smiled. “About the pads.. I only have tampons, but I can take you to pick some up before school today.”

“That sounds perfect.” I smiled. “Thank you, Lily.” I said, giving her a hug.

I grabbed my backpack and followed her downstairs. She headed to the kitchen to grab Ryan’s truck keys as I stood at the entrance of the house waiting for her.

“Babe, can I borrow your truck? I’m gonna drop Leah off at schools today.” I heard Leah say.

“Is she alright?” I heard my Uncle Ezra ask.

“She’s fine. Just going through some girl stuff.” She said. I grimaced at the sound of that. I really didn’t want them to know anything about this. It was embarrassing.

“Ready?” Leah asked as she came up behind me.

“Yup..” I nodded my head.


End file.
